Not So Fast …

After a long seven weeks off, I had been looking forward to yesterday’s doctor’s appointment. My expectation and hope was that we would X-ray the hip, see that it is healing, and move on to the next step towards my recovery.

My hopes were dashed by the results. Unfortunately there were no signs of healing.

Stress fractures are strange and perplexing injuries. They often will not show up on X-rays. Mine didn’t show up initially, and we didn’t know it existed until I had the MRI. When a stress fracture is healing, there are visible and distinctive signs that will show up on the image. Mine showed nothing, which means I’m not there yet.

The fact that there were no signs of healing does not mean I am not healing. I know just from the way I feel that the hip is improving. All we know is that the process is a little bit slower than we had hoped. The fact that I am still experiencing soreness, walking with a limp, and having popping instances, all show that the healing process is still ongoing.

The doctor advised me to take another month off. As he put it, I need to ‘respect’ the hip. He looked at my walking gait, and found it to be unnatural. “Is that how you normally walk?” he asked. Nope. Even though crutches are no longer necessary, he suggested using a cane just to keep weight off of it.

While this was disappointing, it was somewhat expected. I could already tell a couple weeks ago that healing was taking longer than I had hoped, which was the reason I canceled my plans in France this year. That turned out to be the correct move. This is a process that I have to be patient with. I’ll follow the doctor’s orders, and hopefully everything will continue to improve.

This sets back some of my spring plans. My heart is set on completing Mitchell, and I will optimistically register next week. However, if the news is not better in a few weeks, I may have no choice other than to be smart and back out.

I can’t complain too much, as there is always someone out there facing tougher odds. Today I heard about Christian Haettich, who is taking on both Haute Route challenges. And by the way, he’s missing an arm and a leg. By comparison, coming back from a measly hip injury seems pretty insignificant.

Aaron, as I mentioned to you before, look at the importance of magnesium in healing bone fractures. It’s importance is often overlooked but the magnesium absorption of whatever you take is critically important to improving the results. If you want to talk and learn more, let me know.

Yes, in hindsight, it was the right move to back out of HR just before accommodations. As for going bonkers, it was tough, but has gotten easier now that I’ve accepted my fate. Been doing a lot of relaxing and reading.

Your passion for cycling will get you through and over this. Give yourself time, your friends will not disappear. It will come back and only get better. I’m stronger now than 24 years ago. I know it has got to be tough. Keep sharing!
Tom

Hey Aaron, I want to share a cycling experience and get your and your readers input. I spent 8 days down in Lizella, GA (close to Macon) between Christmas and New Years. I rode 365 miles that week. But what was important was a 98mi ride with my brother and his team. A 94mi ride with him and 2 of his teammates. Then a last 96mi ride again with his teammates. Quite a bunch, including my bro, are CAT 1 or 2 riders. We were using rotating pelatons and some just straight all out pulls. It really burst me to a new level. I know it while riding, but can quantify it in the gym. Because I record my effort and time on a given cardio machine, the jump still amazes me. The difference is in the 15% to 25% range and I’m still holding to all that if increasing more. It is like I broke through a level in that one week and I’m still there. What do you or friends think happened?
Tom

Hey Tom, I would guess that your gains are from all those high quality miles. I know that when I would try to hang with stronger riders, I would make significant fitness gains afterward. Plus, in case you haven’t noticed, you’re kind of a beast. 🙂

Has anyone talked about isometrics? Bone will only heal if it has a load (stress) on it. Isometrics – not trying to move but just contract the muscle. I’m not Doc. It just means squeeze as hard as you can – maybe 6 -10 seconds. That will encourage body resources to go there. Hence quicker healing!

Interesting. It might be tough to do that with the bone in question (femoral neck). In fact, the doctor said I was putting too much weight on it, which is why it has been slow to heal. I will ask the doc when we speak next.